Painting with Demons

The story of how demons became such a huge part of my artworks. 

I was in my junior year of college, an amazing artist and my mentor, Peter Hristoff, gave us an assignment to illustrate 10 monsters, which could be interpreted in any way we wanted. Instantly, my mind went to the religion I associate with; Islam. First, I started to explore various verses from the Quran which talked about the supernatural beings and entities whose names when uttered made us sh** our pants when we were kids, like Dajjal(Deceitful Messiah/ similar to the Antichrist in Christianity), Yājūj and Mājūj(Gog and Magog), Azrael (Angel of Death), Djinns etc.

However, as I continued to research these interesting creatures from Islamic Mythology, my heart was still not convinced. I somehow wanted to target the western audience and fill in the gap of the idea of a shared experience. This gave birth to my fascination with Persian/Mughal/Indian miniatures and inevitably, to my 10 monsters. All 4 x 6 inch watercolor/gouache paintings illustrating American pop-culture elements sharing space with eastern imagery taken from 16th-17th century miniatures.

This was just the beginning of my research and fascination with the idea of demons and what they represented in the earlier times, their connotations in the west and the east and how this presence of evil exists in every society/religion/culture/household in one form or another. Another factor that inspired this growing obsession were the reactions I got from friends and family when they saw demons portrayed in my artworks. Some laughed, some were utterly confused, some curious, some were very uneasy and some were absolutely displeased and upset. Surprisingly, the variety of emotions motivated my pursuit of this theme. It encouraged me to tap into the psychological states of people as I noticed how things like religion, culture, nature, nurture, are all incorporated in the way my audience perceives my work. My own family were rather troubled by this introduction of demons or the idea of what they thought was “Shaitan/Satan”, in my art…why can’t you paint something Holy, something that shows light is one of the comments I received which gave birth to my painting titled Something Holy, so thank you! 

Something Holy

2021

Watercolors, gouache, silk paints, dyes, flash, charcoal and tea on silk

24 x 30 in.

The creatures illustrated in my work are not just literal depictions of demons, they are a reflection of my viewer’s thoughts when they initially see them. It is the inner voice given a form. We all have demons in our heads, some are funny, playful and harmless; some are ugly, scary and dangerous. It's our decision as to how we give them life in our world and minds.

Good is synonymous with evil. It is challenging for one to appreciate the fruits of life without fully understanding the not so good. Similarly, there is no concept of angels without acknowledging demons. We look at the media everyday with the horrible things happening in the world. It’s inevitable to be filled with discomfort and panic. But it also urges us to stand up to injustice and suffering and to do what is right and virtuous. 

Perhaps staring at these creatures may make some feel uneasy, but maybe if we allow ourselves to accept them and welcome them, we might be able to change what they represent for us in our own worlds.